Modeling deformable filament bundles by means of mass-spring systems for the design of carbon reinforced materials

Abstract

The construction and design of textile reinforcement elements offer great potential for efficient production of load-designed components out of fiber reinforced composites materials. Tailored fiber placement (TFP) is a promising new technology that contributes to the development of carbon fiber reinforced composites by reducing structural weight at safe design. The TFP process allows a filament bundle positioning in almost any orientation. This way the fiber reinforcement can be aligned as closely as possible to the optimal mechanical direction. However, the flexibility of orientation can result in high deformation grades of the filament bundles; this may result in vulnerable regions of the fiber's reinforced structure. This contribution presents a mass-spring system for physical numerical simulation of the three-dimensional deformation behavior experienced by carbon-tows by the TFP process including filament interaction and collision. Trough simulation we attempt to predict the deformation grade of the filament bundles by the TFP process. The advantages and shortcomings of this approach are presented by numerical results obtained for different number of filaments in the bundle. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.